Turning farmers into entrepreneurs

MANILA, Philippines - For as long as they can remember, farmers of the remote village of Sagrada Familia – Gibato in Dumarao, Capiz have been tilling the soil, a work they inherited from their parents, uncertain of what the future may bring.

But aside from its fertile soil, the barangay is abundant in fresh calamansi, citrus and saba banana, providing an alternative source of income when not in the planting season.

With the help of the Progressive Women and the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative, a fresh fruit processing project was born to help the tillers augment their income. The enterprise produced quality and nutritious ready-to-drink calamansi juice concentrate, banana marbles, banana chips and banana fries.

The project later expanded with the financial support from the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP) of the Department of Agrarian Reform, the municipal government of Dumarao, and various government agencies.

Todate, the project produces some 3,000 bottles of ready-to-drink calamansi juice, 1,800 bottles of calamansi concentrate, and 4,500 packs of banana chips and fries in a month.

Since operating in July 2006, the project has captured the local market in Capiz and neighboring provinces.

The Sagrada Familia – Gibato is just among the hundreds of success stories of agrarian reform communities (ARCs) brought about by the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in 1988.

Regarded as the centerpiece program of the Aquino administration, CARP is a social justice program to ensure equal access to wealth and basic social services such as health, education and employment.

Since then, DAR has distributed over four million hectares of agricultural lands to more than 2.3 million farmers and has formed some 2,000 ARCs across the country, the center of CARP’s investments and economic interventions.

The program has also granted access to infrastructure and livelihood opportunities to ARCs to help them pursue their community goals and aspirations.

According to Agrarian Reform secretary Nasser Pangandaman, the economic empowerment of ARCs is a major accomplishment of DAR in supporting them to be agribusiness centers in the countryside that would help spur development and alleviate poverty.

These successful enterprises took center stage in the recent Agraryo Trade Fair of DAR held at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall which highlighted the craftsmanship and entrepreneurial spirit of the ARCs.

Displayed at the fair were fresh and processed poultry and meat products, ingredients and additives, beverages, vegetable products, delicacies, processed food, packaging materials, native handicraft, home furnishings, and novelty items, among others.

The event also provided a significant networking opportunity for the ARCs and food firms and commercial distributors so their products can be brought to the mainstream market.

Now on its ninth edition, the annual trade fair is part of the celebration of the CARP’s extension by Congress last year.

 “With the interventions provided by DAR, independent impact studies on the CARP showed the rise in the income and productivity of farmers especially in the ARCs. From mere recipients of government aid, a progressive new breed of owner-cultivators has emerged: empowered, reliable, and resourceful,” he said.

With the advent of the new administration, Pangandaman is confident that the DAR and the CARP can sustain their momentum and make good entrepreneurs out of the tillers of the soil.